Catching you in your dreams
by Salamiwaffel
Summary: After the giant war, nightmares plague Percy regularly. So when he awakes on his birthday after having surprisingly calm dreams and finds a dreamcatcher hanging beside his bed, he is understandably surprised. Where does it come from?


It was in the middle of the night in Camp Halfblood and Percy Jackson was writhing in his bed, sweat covering his body and little whimpers escaping his lips. Of course this wasn't the first nightmare Percy has had, especially since he and Annabeth had left Tartarus.

 _„ANNABETH!", Percy cried, seeing her walking around blindly, thinking that he had left her. It was strange, a part of him still knew that this was a dream, that she couldn't hear him and that he couldn't help her. Yet it still felt exactly as real and horrible as on the first time it had happened. And he was just as helpless._

 _Then the part where he was poisoned by Gorgon blood came up and he was reliving the pain of that experience again. Just when he thought that he needed to burst, to die, that he couldn't take it anymore, something changed._

 _The dream suddenly felt less vivid, less real. The pain was gone. He was still in the same place, the dream hadn't stopped, but he wasn't as scared anymore. He even felt a wave of calmness overcome him, a feeling of being safe. He couldn't explain this to himself but the dream felt like watching a horror movie now more than like an actual experience. Everything seemed to be far away, and Percy welcomed this feeling, craving a break from all the pain and fear._

Percy was woken up by sun rays hitting his closed eyes. He groggily opened them and found himself in his bed in cabin 3, laying on his side and looking at his nightstand that was illuminated by the morning sun.

It took Percy some time until his sleepy brain took notice of something that was out of place: Hanging on the wall right below the Minotaur horn was something new. Upon looking closer, Percy realized what it was. „A dreamcatcher?", he mumbled confused. There, hanging on the wall beside his bed was a little dreamcatcher he had never seen before in his life, with tiny seashells and even some pearls hanging from it instead of feathers. He stood up slowly to inspect it more closely when- „Do you like it?" Percy's head snapped around so fast that his neck even cracked a little. Rubbing it with is left hand while his right one automatically reached for his trusted ballpoint pen, he stopped in the middle of his movement when his brain had finally caught up with his eyes. „Dad!?", he exclaimed unbelievingly, staring into a pair of seagreen eyes that he knew very well.

Poseidon was standing beside the seawater fountain, wearing his usual attire of a bright yellow hawaiian shirt, khaki shorts and sandals. A slight smile graced his lips as he stepped forward towards his startled son. „Good morning, Percy. Did you sleep well?", he asked as if there was nothing wrong with him being here.

„I-I… wha-… _how_ …?", Percy stammered, still unsure what his Dad was doing here. He hadn't seen him since the fight against the giants and the hadn't really talked to him since his birthday a year ago.

„What are you doing here?", he finally got out as his Dad reached him and stood right before him. „Not to sound ungrateful or anything, just, you know, why…" „I know what you mean, Percy", he said calmly, still a slight smile tugging on the corners of his lips and little crinkles appearing around his eyes. „You didn't answer my question, did you sleep well?", he repeated, holding his gaze determined, clearly expecting an answer.

„Yes, somehow, I actually did. I had bad dreams but they didn't really reach me…", Percy answered, trailing off at the end, deep in thought. Then his eyes caught sight of the dreamcatcher again. He also noticed the unusual decoration for a second time. Wait, did that mean… „Is that because of this?", he asked, pointing at the thing on his wall, and Poseidon's smile got a little bigger. „Did you bring this here?" „Yes, and yes. I placed it here a few hours ago." Percy remembered that his nightmare had suddenly stopped to feel real, and the wave of calmness surrounding him, the feeling of safety. Then it finally clicked. „You were here all night, am I right? And this thing really catches dreams?"

„You are right", he answered, then averted his gaze, looking at the dreamcatcher instead. „And normally, dreamcatchers don't do a damn thing. Useless little things that mortals invented to make them feel a little better. They are rather pretty, though…", he trailed off, seemingly deep in thought. „Why does this one work, then?", Percy asked softly, bringing his father back to the present. „Well, that wasn't easy. I owe big favors to Hypnos and Morpheus now. Which I hope I won't regret…" He looked at Percy again, smiling. „But anything for you, my son. You would deserve even more that this, but sadly this thing can only detach you from your dreams, it can't block them entirely. Apparently, much more powerful magic would be needed for that. I just hope that it is enough to pay you back a little bit for everything we gods owe you. You have scarified so much, so very much…" His smile vanished and his eyes took on a sad expression.

Percy was speechless. His Dad had made a dreamcatcher, got Hypnos and Morpheus to bless it, gave it to him last night and even stayed until now. Before he knew that he had made that decision, Percy had wrapped his arms around Poseidon's torso and was mumbling „Thank you, thank you" over and over.

After a few seconds, his father was hugging him back, rubbing one of his hands over his lower back gently and pressing a soft kiss on the top of his head. Percy felt himself being reminded of his last hug with his Dad – just like he had then, he felt a bit like crying now. Maybe he hadn't wanted to admit it before, but it had really bugged him to not see and hear from his Dad for so long. He was so happy that he was here now, hugging him back, showing that the cared. And Percy had no doubt that he did all this even though it was technically forbidden. He was breaking laws for him at the moment.

After some time, Poseidon let go and brought his hand under Percy's chin, lifting it up so he could look him in the eyes again.

„Happy Birthday, Percy." His smile was kind, loving. Percy grinned in return, having totally forgotten until now that today was indeed his 17th birthday. „Thank you!"

His Dad ruffled his hair affectionally, then pointed at the dreamcatcher again. „By the way, the blessing of this thing doesn't only work for you. It works for everyone whop sleeps near it. So just in case there is someone else needing a little relief from their nightmares…" He trailed off at the end and then winked at him, grinning, and then dissolving into mist, carried away by a fresh sea breeze that was coming through the open window.

Embarrassingly, it took Percy until breakfast started to finally realize that his Dad had just not so discreetly allowed him to let Annabeth stay in cabin 3 overnight.

„Thanks again, Dad!", he thought as he burned his offering.


End file.
